[CPEO-IRF] Heritage Foundation on BRAC recovery

[Lenny Siegel <lsiegel@cpeo.org>]

Base Closings Often Have Silver Lining, Study Shows

WASHINGTON, JULY 12, 2005 - Losing a military base need not spell 
economic disaster for a community, a new study from The Heritage 
Foundation shows.

Communities where bases close regain about 90 percent of the jobs lost 
within six years. And, although per capita incomes drop slightly at 
first, they quickly recoup that loss and often experience strong growth 
thereafter, according to the study led by Jack Spencer, a senior defense 
policy analyst at Heritage and an expert on the Base Realignment and 
Closing (BRAC) process.

The key to success is quick action by local leaders to transform the 
abandoned facilities into engines of economic growth. Communities have 
converted bases to a variety of new and profitable uses. For example, 
the study notes:

  -In Mesa, Ariz., Portsmouth, N.H., Alexandria, La., and Austin, 
Texas, Air Force bases became airports - some with other assets attached.

  -The Charleston Naval Shipyard in South Carolina is now home to more 
than 100 private, local, state and federal organizations.

  -The Glenview Naval Air Station in Illinois is being developed into 
an upscale planned community.

  -Reese Air Force Base in Lubbock, Texas, is now Reese Technology 
Center, a research, education and business campus.

The study suggests that Congress can help communities that will lose 
bases in the next round of closings in two ways. First, Congress should 
hold hearings on how communities have overcome base closures. Also, 
lawmakers should encourage communication between communities that have 
gone through the process and those that face it now.

"The Department of Defense is not a jobs program,” Spencer says. "BRAC 
is about sorting out which facilities we need and which can be converted 
to other uses. It’s up to community leaders, with help from Congress, to 
move quickly to deal with the fallout."

© 1995 - 2005 The Heritage Foundation

Fo the original press release, go to
http://www.heritage.org/Press/NewsReleases/nr071205a.cfm

Does anyone have a link to the original study?

--
Lenny Siegel
Director, Center for Public Environmental Oversight
c/o PSC, 278-A Hope St., Mountain View, CA 94041
Voice: 650/961-8918 or 650/969-1545
Fax: 650/961-8918
http://www.cpeo.org

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